Caribou & Presque Isle Teams Ready For Regular Season; Outlook
The regular season for winter high school sports in Maine will begin this week and many athletes from Aroostook County will be working towards the goal of a championship. Basketball, hockey, and cheering will begin on Friday, and ski season will follow whenever Mother Nature will allow.
Basketball teams in Aroostook County compete in Classes B,C,D North with a majority of the schools we cover falling in Class C and D. Here are some storylines to track throughout the season.
Class B North
Just two schools from The County are in Class B, those being Caribou and Presque Isle. The Caribou girls return a solid core of players that came on strong towards the end of last year, resulting in a trip to Bangor for the tournament. Sophomore Madelyn Deprey will look to lead the Vikings on both ends of the floor as Caribou eyes a top 5 spot in the final standings.
The Caribou boys’ team were rebuilding last year and were one of the more dangerous teams in Class B going down the stretch. Coach Kyle Corrigan is looking to build off of the late season success his Vikings saw last year. Look for Caribou to improve throughout the season with the addition of two transfer students that figure to play significant minutes.
New beginnings in Presque Isle
Presque Isle quickly became the most fascinating program to watch after the end of the 21-22 season. Within a week both the boys' and girls' teams were searching for new head coaches. Jeff Hudson retired from coaching after nearly 30 years on the sidelines for the Wildcats, and Terry Cummings resigned as the boys' head coach after guiding Presque Isle for 11 seasons.
Krystal Flewelling takes over as head coach of the girls’ program in Presque Isle. She was a 1,000-point scorer and state champion at PIHS, and comes to the job with varsity experience. Flewelling guided the Class C Central Aroostook Panthers in 2021-22. The first task for her will be replacing 1,000-point scorer, Faith Sjoberg.
Dillon Kingsbury returns to his alma-mater and will lead the boys’ program at Presque Isle. Kingsbury began his varsity coaching career in Easton at the age of 19 and lands home with a wealth of experience and a gold ball. He led the Central Aroostook girls’ team to the 2019-20 Class C State Championship. Kingsbury spent last season as the top assistant for the PIHS girls’ team last year. He will be able to rely on senior Malachai Cummings to set the example for the younger players on both ends of the floor.
Listen to all the action on 101.9 The Rock
101.9 The Rock will once again be covering local high school basketball and hockey.